


Humanity's Strongest Squad

by silverbutton



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: 104th Training Corps - Freeform, 104th Training Corps Shenanigans, Angst, Developing Friendships, Family, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Father Figures, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Parental Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Platonic Female/Male Relationships, Platonic Male/Male Relationships, Platonic Relationships, Protective Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-24
Updated: 2020-08-20
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:27:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22877890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silverbutton/pseuds/silverbutton
Summary: Erwin cleared his throat in the silent room as he saw Levi's head spinning with doubts and memories, he knew that the man wouldn't understand, not yet. Alas, Erwin still spoke with an even voice, "you are their best chance.""You'll pack your belongings and equipment," began Levi the next morning to his seven newly woken cadets. "If you're going to be in my squad your going to work your asses off to be the best fucking cadets this shitty regiment has ever god-damned seen."Levi is forced to take the 104th cadets under his wing and he has no idea how to train the horde of brats.
Relationships: Armin Arlert & Levi, Jean Kirstein & Levi, Krista Lenz | Historia Reiss & Levi, Krista Lenz | Historia Reiss/Ymir, Levi & Connie Springer, Levi & Eren Yeager, Mikasa Ackerman & Levi, Sasha Blouse & Levi
Comments: 39
Kudos: 306





	1. The First Order

He could hear determined footsteps coming to a halt at the foot of his office, wondering for only a mere moment if he would be graced with a knock or if the brass man would simply barge in without invitation. A deep sigh escaped Erwin's lips as he sat back in his cushy leather chair while the Captain thrust open the door, making his displeasure known as the door slammed against the wall with a screaming thud.

"Give them to Shit Glasses," Levi demanded with his thin black eyebrows drawn to a frown, slamming his strong palm down onto Erwin's large oakwood desk, the candlestick shuddered and the wood creaked beneath his hand. The flame that kept the room alight wavered, almost leaving the pair in the darkness of night.

"We need to work on your manners Captain." Erwin said with a displeased frown, picking his pen up to continue his heavy slack of paperwork under the hazy glimmer. Levi merely gave him a scathing look. Shiny steel eyes glared with fury at him and Levi downright snatched the paperwork from Erwin's desk and threw them askew across the large office.

He knew the Captain wouldn't be pleased by the decision, a mere ten minutes ago Erwin had sent one of Levi's fellow captains down to the mess hall to announce new squads before the night headed to a close. He had suffered a great loss of numbers after the 57th Exterior Scouting Expedition. Captains, trained diligent soldiers and rookies had been slaughtered in the battle against the female titan, who had been identified as Annie Leonhart. Among the dead was the Levi's Special Operations Squad comprising of Levi's second Eld Jinn, Gunther Schultz, Oulo Bozado and Petra Ral; who perhaps the most hard hitting for Levi. But now the dust had settled, following the disappearance of Ymir, Reiner Braun and Bertholt Hoover; who had all presented themselves as titans and disappeared after Erwin himself had been gravely mutilated, losing an arm. They needed to assign new squads and prepare for new threats. The Survey Corps needed to move forward whether humanity's strongest liked it or not.

"We need to work on your fucking choices Erwin." Grit out Levi, Erwin paid his anger no mind. He knew how to be nothing but patient with the short and short-tempered man.

"They all hold strong potential, that's why I'm giving them to you. They need training." He explained, he had handpicked the 104th cadets for the new Levi squad, consisting first and foremost of Eren Jaeger. The young titan shifter who gave them some hope in the war to come, with him Erwin new, needed to be Mikasa Ackerman. She showed so much potential and skill Levi could without a doubt nurture if he tried. If Levi gave that girl his effort, she may even be able to surpass the soldier himself.

Not to mention, trying to separate that girl from Eren would be a headache.

Connie Springer and Sasha Blouse were nothing special and the commander new this, she had good instincts but aside from that he found them both to be average fighters. However, it was the spirit they held that Erwin believed in. They had lost friends and family, without a doubt their urge to fight and conquer alongside their friends would only grow.

Then there was Jean Kirstein, despite being easy to fluster, the young man had qualities of leadership that reminded him of his late friend Mike. He could lead soldiers to their death one day, knowing that boys and girls would die under his command and that was exactly the kind of soldier Erwin Smith needed, he needed men he could count on to use others as tools. Armin Arlert had fought and saved many of his soldiers with that brain of his, he was one of the most brilliant young minds of his generation. Erwin hoped with the right training he could be a wonderful strategist and take his own position when he passed on. And finally there was Historia Reiss, the Scouts couldn't afford to put her in a squad where her safety could be compromised, Levi was his strongest and most trusted captain, he would keep her safe.

"They don't need training, the brats need fucking parents. I've told you before Eyebrows, they're too young. Eren's already enough of a pain in my arse."

Levi new Erwin didn't make any decision lightly, he knew every move of his was calculated and Levi could accept that these kids had some experience and potential, but he wasn't equipped to deal with them. He didn't believe he could help them with the emotional baggage they lugged endlessly. The Survey Corps needed to stop letting kids get involved in this fucking war, is what he thought. They trained children to fight because grown men and women wouldn't. It made him sick to his stomach.

He remembered every face of every soldier he had seen die on dirty stone floors, smashed into the trunks of trees, laying boneless along plains of crimson-stained grass. He didn't want these scouts, these _kids,_ to die by his order.

He remembered, he was sure Erwin remembered too, the head of a girl not much older than the 104th, staring at him with piercing dead eyes, blood and sloppy mud coating her hair and lips. He recalled Petra's small dead body against a tree, looking at him, as if he'd failed her too.

Erwin cleared his throat in the silent room as he saw Levi's head spinning with doubts and memories, he knew that the man wouldn't understand, not yet. Alas, Erwin still spoke with an even voice, "you are their best chance."

Immediately the soldier straightened and voiced his doubts with a low tone.

"Hange is their best chance." Argued Levi.

The short raven-haired man believed in her more than himself, she was more compassionate in her calm and best moments. She was intelligent and better with people than he was, she possessed a better understanding of the human psyche than Levi. Erwin seemed to contemplate his words for a moment and that's when Levi's stomach dropped.

He suddenly felt overwhelming guilt, sticking the burden of them, their inevitable deaths, on his, albeit he'd never admit it, closest friend. She'd watch them die under her order instead and he didn't want that either, she was already so close to being swallowed by that deranged madness he saw swirling in her eyes sometimes. Occasionally he believed, that without that little pet of hers, Moblit, who forced her to eat, drink and bathe, who ran around her like a headless chicken, she'd have already lost herself.

_Damn Erwin, the fucking asshole._

Levi cursed aloud, profanities falling from his mouth in a splurge of anger, slamming his hand down once again with a curled fist, worn nails digging into his own flesh.

Erwin didn't sway as a book fell from his desk corner to the floor. His stare unwavering.

"Fine. I'll train the shitty brats, but their deaths are on you." He declared with a hot face of flushed anger and a clenched jaw. Levi turned on his heal and stormed away in fury and anguish, his chest tight with anxiety.

They _were_ on Erwin, of course, every soldier's life, even his, was Erwin's responsibility the moment they crossed their arms in salute for the first time. But he wasn't daft, when that bright blond lost his head to a Titan, the babbling idiots that stole food and caused chaos throughout the castle were snatched because, for a moment, they were just _a little too slow;_ that was on him, too.

Levi hurried to the door of his own quarters under the hall lights, his own floor vacant of rookies and only shared with other captains and Hange. Being a captain in this large stone castle provided him certain luxuries. He could bathe in private with his generously sized bathroom consisting of essentials, with an apartment lacking only a kitchen available to him. If he wanted, he could lounge around on his free days off in his own office, peacefully reading old novels or doing paperwork. Instead he generally chose to clean.

Just as he reached the large wooden door in the now dimly lit hallway, he met a dejected looking Eren Jaeger.

His brown hair was dishevelled and his uniform was a rumpled mess, the white of his pants tinged with the dirt of the day. The boy looked tired. The captain didn't blame him, he and the boy had been training all day and being he was his only living squad member until now, Levi had put him through the rounds.

They'd run lap after lap and had begun practicing hand-to-hand combat in the event Jaeger needed to fight a person instead of a man-eating monster. The older man knew that the brunet had thought the exercise meaningless, believing humans weren't ever going to be a real threat. Still he had tried his best and given it all he had.

Since he had joined Levi's previous band of misfits' the captain had picked up on one definitive thing when it came to the ocean eyed boy with a full heart.

When he wasn't a bundle of energy, ready to fight and thrive and kick the ass of everyone, human and titan, he was exhausted. Dark circles always seemed to trace his eyes after their dinners down at the mess. The dark-haired man new that when Eren was ready to crash, it was probably best he did so before he burnt out and lost whatever control on his terrors and anxieties he had.

"You should go to bed." Hissed Levi, his temper still alight. Really, he didn't want to take it out on the kid. When he took his anger out on the titan-shifter it hadn't often made him feel better and _always_ made Eren skittish for days after.

He fiddled with his ring of keys, finding the first for one of his two locks.

"I- Captain… You left when you found out who your new Special Operations team was uh… very quickly, do you not want us to be on your squad?" Asked Eren, his voice low and his eyes filled with poorly concealed admiration, it was a look Eren had given him a few times now and Levi despised it. When he pulled that shitty gaze at Levi he was reminded of his past, the past he tried to forget with every battle he fought. Levi gave a deep sigh, not unlike the fed up one given to him earlier by Erwin. Finally, he slipped his second key in its respective hole, wanting the warm bath that was calling for him. He slipped open the heavy door.

"You were already on my squad Eren, go the fuck to bed I'm not discussing this with you tonight, we have a long day tomorrow." Declared the captain, he was standing within the threshold of his door, ready to close it behind him. Eren accepted his words with a shaky nod and turned to leave and make his way to the cold cellar for the night. It was a precaution they still had to follow and while only he and Hange knew they didn't lock him up at night anymore, he still had to sleep down there for now, to keep the rich rabbles' minds at peace.

Levi's guilt almost tripled at the thought of how cold it would be down there now the winter was approaching. _Almost._ But he knew it would be Eren's last night in the cellar for a long while.

If he was going to oversee these brats, he was going to train them right.

* * *

"You'll pack your belongings and equipment," began Levi the next morning to his seven newly woken cadets who cradled their mugs of hot tea and coffee, "there's farmland on the skirts of Wall Rose we'll be occupying for the next few months. If you're going to be in my squad your going to work your asses off to be the best fucking cadets this shitty regiment has ever god-damned seen."

The lot of them looked at him, dumbfounded.

"Tch, eat your breakfast." He said, his very first order for them as their newly appointed captain.


	2. People Like Us

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! Sorry for such huge gap between the first and second chapter, I'm trying to be more consistent overall with writing so it hopefully won't happen again. I hope I did okay in describing the Ackerbond jazz because it's been a while since I read the chapter focusing on it. I appreciate all the feedback I got from the last chapter and hope this one is just as entertaining! :) (There is an abrupt pov change at the end of the chapter, I'm sorry that's just how it worked out.)

Levi's new squad had been hauled up at the farmhouse for a week now, a very frustrating week if you asked the captain himself. He was sure the only reason Erwin had allowed Levi to run this bootcamp-like training was because the raven had already told the cadets to start packing. The commander's permission had come at a cost though.

Levi could take a month's worth of rations with the new squad but for the remaining time he was obligated to purchase everything else necessary besides training equipment. Of course, this made sense considering how low the funding for the Survey Corps was already. However, that didn't stop Levi from bitching to Hange about it for an hour. The 7 of his cadets were the only ones permitted to go, much to Hange's chagrin and, of course, the team were to return immediately in the event of an attack or new course of action.

The space itself spread across acres of land with plenty of trees for the squad to train with using their 3DMG gear. Levi hadn't been here for a long while, this area, while owned by Erwin himself, wasn't lived in. White cloths had been draped over furniture and dust had gathered everywhere. The captain had forced his new rabble to clean out every nook and cranny after their arrival, by the next days end, there wasn't a speck of dirt in sight.

Levi's problem had nothing to do with the space, no, it was perfect for his training exercises. There was a stable large enough to house all their horses and plenty of vegetation for the beasts to graze. The building, while simple, had two floors, the bottom containing a kitchen, living area and dining room. The second contained three large bedrooms and a bathing area. Levi, being the captain and preferring not to bunk with a bunch of hormonal brats, had a room for himself and separated the others.

Mikasa, Historia and Sasha were to share one and Eren, Connie, Jean and Armin another. It was all a standard protocol and Levi had even gone to the curtesy of helping them put together those god-awful bunks.

Fat lot of appreciation that got him from one particular soldier. Mikasa Ackerman was his first puzzle, his first goddamn problem.

Given he'd beaten her brother, though with her obvious romantic affection for him Levi wasn't sure if he should use such terminology, he could understand some of her rage. Even with the events that transpired in the courtroom Eren seemed to idolize Levi and there was no bad blood between the two. Her general dislike for him wasn't the problem, he disliked most people and hardly had room to judge if she wished to do the same.

It was her attachment to Eren, though, that threw him.

It had been a trying morning as Eren bickered over Mikasa's fussing at breakfast, her tendency to stuff him with food and mother him seemed overbearing for the boy. It did no good that Jean and Connie seemed to tease him for it to no end.

Levi watched them now, from a slightly higher vantage point as the team showed him their skills using the 3DMG, he noted how Mikasa was no doubt the fastest of the group. Jean following quickly behind her and Eren trying desperately to beat him. While Eren still stumbled from time to time he was a great soldier and due to his independent training with Levi and his old squad, was an elite young soldier. Still, Jean was quicker.

Levi's eyes were piercing as he scrutinized them, the rest of the team flew through the air closely behind them and he kept his steps consistent to watch all of them, while Arlert struggled to keep up they generally knew how to fly as one unit which he was relieved by.

Orders to move faster sat at the tip of his tongue, in the event of a real titan, the four cadets falling behind couldn't afford to be this slow and he would have to work with them individually, teach them how to move faster and preserve more gas. He held back his words, choosing instead to let them fly through the wind at their own pace for now.

"Keep up Jaeger-boy," shouted Kirstein, a shit-faced grin sitting on his face, picking up his face even further, rivalling Mikasa as he swung above a thick tree branch and adjusted his wires. Eren yelled something back but Levi wasn't listening, concentrating only on their footing as they ran along the surfaces of trees.

"Focus!" Demanded the captain, Mikasa hadn't slowed in pace at all despite her teammate's mockeries. Good, he thought, not getting distracted is good. She was outstanding to watch for such a young cadet, reminding him of Kenny as she maneuvered flawlessly without even a thought put into it. Everything the girl seemed to do was natural, like she knew her next move not because her brain was ticking but because her very bones understood the objective.

Levi knew that feeling all too well.

"Shut it horseface!" It wasn't until he heard a muffled cry follow this that he shifted his eyes to the other teenagers swinging through the forest, Eren had lost his concentration and had misfired his wires.

"Eren!" Mikasa bellowed highly, dashing down to him, she slung a wire to the tree where he was falling and directed her full speed at his person.

Levi could see the ensuing chaos in an instant, the girl threw herself passed Jean as Eren caught his grip, bringing himself to safety quickly and efficiently just as he was taught. Kirstein staggered backwards through the air to avoid her shooting wires and the hole in his chest that would have come with it. Kirstein swiveled his hips, trying to re-hook the wire that had detached from his second directory point.

It jammed, he continued to press down on his sword's handle, empty of blades, to adjust his equipment, alas at his pace he was being pulled straight into the tree his first wire was attached to.

Fuck.

The squad leader moved immediately, hoping to save Jean's arm from permanent damage as it would be the first to collide with full force into the trunk. With his gifted reflexes Levi sped to catch Jean before he hit the trunk, moving while also being cautious of the other cadets still flying through the air trying to still themselves to let him pass.

Within seconds of Kirstein's impending crash the captain managed to grapple him around the waste and slow most of their force before landing against the wood with a booming thud. Levi's recently healed leg sent waves of pain through his body.

He could feel the kid shaking in his grip and commanded him to release his second wire. When this was achieved, he moved them to a spacious branch along the forest sky, letting his full grip of the fifteen-year-old go only when the two-toned kid had steadied himself.

"Sorry Captain." He breathed out lowly, still recovering from shock. Levi scoffed, though not at Kirstein. The other cadets rushed to meet them, worry contorting their young faces. Mikasa and Eren hauled themselves up the tree, the titan-shifter looking particularly miffed while also schooling a frightened expression. He hurried past the captain and went to check on his friend.

Mikasa stood there with her head held high, willing to take whatever was dished out and it irritated the living hell out of Levi. He'd take a bumbling idiot spouting apologies over a girl who understood she had done wrong by her teammate but had no plan to change her actions in the future.

"I want you running laps in the field until you can't feel your lungs," he knew it would be an easy task for her but he needed her away from himself, "get out of my fucking sight until you can be a contributing factor to this squad!" He hollered with pinched brows.

She removed herself quickly with nothing but a firm nod.

Shit, she was a piece of work.

"Captain, I'm sorry, I lost my footing I didn't think-" He cut the little spew short.

"Shut up Jaeger." Levi took a deep breath, telling the other recruits to go exercise their horses around the farmhouse while he inspected Jeans equipment and have time in his own head.

Levi swapped gear with Jean so he could make a speedy return and left Levi to think.

He couldn't fathom a way to get the girl to stop only seeing Eren, he felt that her actions stemmed from something deeper, as if the protection she felt for the titan shifter was buried beneath her skin.

Levi knew that by late afternoon he needed to relieve the girl before she collapsed, even with her unexplained abilities she would likely reach her limit soon. Still, he waited and thought on how to address the problem. He knew her fellow teammates would grow distrustful of her if another stunt like this was pulled again and that would accomplish the exact opposite of his goals.

What would Hange do? A question that determined the basis of every action he'd taken with this team so far, he knew that he wasn't Hange but he was so dreadfully lost on what to do to help train these children into a fully functional team.

He thought that she would take an entirely different approach to him, instead of beating her he thought that perhaps Hange would talk to her.

Levi hated talking, he wasn't good with his words and while Erwin and Hange were used to it he knew that to get through to his knew squad he would have to be better than his usual self. Finally, he stepped away from the window where he had stewed over his hot tea and refilled the small teacup, grabbing a full canteen of water for the brat.

There had to be a reason she wanted to protect Eren at all costs and he would be damned if he let her keep that reason to herself.

Calling her over from the porch of the large house he waited for her to jog to him, as she approached, he could spy her drenched forehead dripping with sweat and the way her feet had begun to drag across the ground. Throwing her the canteen from where he had sat down, he was still surprised she managed to catch it without faltering.

"You're done for the day." Mikasa nodded her head after indulging in the cold fresh water, her short black bob now sticking to her cheeks. She made a move to leave before he barked out "I didn't dismiss you soldier, sit the fuck down." She only nodded stoically, sitting beside him where she was directed. "Now I don't really do this talking shit, it's not my strong suit, but your going to tell me exactly why you decided one person's life meant more than another today." Levi thought to cut right to the chase, not giving her a chance to spout any bullshit excuses and yet –

"Eren was in danger." The captain's sharp eyes met her own, there was no uncertainty in her tone, no regrets. As it was, he understood the concept that every person's worth in the military was different, of course he himself would save Erwin or Hange, his team members or any other high-ranking officer over the life of a rookie who offered little potential. In every scenario, he would save Arlert over Springer.

Because that is what Erwin expected of him.

Yet, he knew he wouldn't ever intentionally put another in jeopardy at any inkling of danger faced by Eren or Erwin or Hange. Because he trusted they could take care of themselves.

It seemed that Mikasa always overlooked this, Eren was a capable soldier and with his Titan abilities would be okay in a scenario that he got injured.

"Today Kirstein was put in danger, a very capable and potential soldier and a strong asset to the military, so that you could make sure Eren didn't scrape his knee. Jean could have lost a limb today, would have if I hadn't saved his ass in time, lizard boy can grow his arms back Ackerman, Jean cannot." His voice was firm and left no room for argument, still, she looked perplexed, not seeming to understand his meaning.

"Eren was in danger, so I went to help him. I didn't intend for Jean to get hurt." Mikasa argued under Levi's scrutiny.

"Eren isn't weak and I sure as hell know that he can handle himself. He is not a child who needs to be fucking rocked every time he gets beat." He knew he was contradicting his own beliefs, that they were kids, they're too young he had told Erwin less than a week ago. But… he needed her to think outside of her bubble of Eren Jaeger. To see them all as important and valuable.

Though he almost missed it, Mikasa's voice having grown soft, he still managed to catch that small voice saying, "he's my family."

Well shit. He didn't know what he was doing, how to tell her that her family wasn't always the priority, it would only make him more of a hypocrite.

Levi stared into the tea that swirled under his movement.

They sat in silence for a long moment; Mikasa thought that now it was best only to leave when dismissed. She couldn't explain to her captain, whom she already had a negative disposition for that it was about Eren.

Everything was about Eren.

She didn't know why, just that it was, from the moment they met, about Eren.

"It's my job to protect Jaeger." Captain Levi told her, but it sounded like a lie in her ears. "You need to protect yourself and everyone else on this team when you can because you're a damn good soldier." She thought that maybe he was just pulling this out of his ass to get her to listen and understand. Still, she wasn't convinced. But – she could see how desperately her fierce captain wanted her to believe that he would protect the person she loved most in the world.

"Eren has been my responsibility for quite a while now and I understand that at every turn, you've been there for the brat." The Captain's voice had begun sounding lighter and more genuine. "I know what you're feeling, the need to protect someone at all costs, I think that for people like us that shit just sticks and won't go away." People like us? "But the truth is I can't build this team if they don't trust you. Another stunt like today can't happen again, training accidents like that shouldn't ever happen. So, you need to try your damn fucking hardest to see beyond your instincts, to see someone other than Eren." 'Please' she could hear it even if it went unsaid and the thought that her captain wasn't perhaps as cruel and malice as she'd originally perceived had cut through her like a knife.

He'd called them instincts, what she felt and her need to protect, and that made her consider that perhaps he had them too. A sliver of her believed that if that were true, she truly could bend her instincts to incorporate her entire team like he had.

"I- I can try." Mikasa finally agreed.

Relief washed over his face and it was evident he was not used to these kinds of talks. It didn't help that she didn't favour conversations either, generally finding her actions spoke louder than her words.

Captain Levi stood quickly after that. "Good, now go fucking eat, you're on-dish duty tonight and if the plates don't shine, I'm going to beat your ass." Gone was his understanding mannerisms and back was the heartless grumpy façade.

She didn't find that she minded so much and while she'd never admit it, Mikasa scrubbed the dishes twice as hard that night so they would indeed shine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you have any feedback, ideas or requests please let me know! A kudos is always appreciated!!


	3. Really Fucking Beautiful

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Thanks for all the kudos'! Hope everyone enjoys this chapter and are staying safe and healthy.

Levi felt as if he were being watched.

From every corner of the house he roamed he felt as if eyes were on him.

It'd been but a week since the incident that had Levi just a little less lost when handling his team of misfits.

He noticed that talking had definitely gotten through to Mikasa, he could see that she was trying, generally when under his scrutiny, to attempt to insert herself into conversations. He didn't expect her to talk, not wanting to force her to be outgoing because she simply was not and that was okay. But he did expect her to get to know her comrades, even in silent ways.

He was sure she had noticed that during training, when choosing pairings, he would often not place her with Eren. He was diligent in integrating Mikasa as part of their team and the black-haired teenager was taking it in stride. Levi was sure Eren appreciated the breather too, ever since his chat with the young Ackerman girl Eren had been working double time to please Levi with tea and generally be his dedicated puppy-like self.

But Levi was used to Eren tailing him like a duckling, he didn't particularly mind and when he told the brat to scram the kid did so without complaint. It wasn't Eren who he felt was watching him, nor was it Mikasa.

Every movement he made, from sipping his morning tea at sunrise to getting up from his seat in the living area to take a shit, chestnut eyes followed him. The captain recalled yesterday, when he was sparing with Blouse and he knew the boy's eyes were focused on him, how every time he moved they would follow without fail.

What was Kirstein's fucking problem lately? Levi decided his best bet was to avoid confrontation for now, he sat at the desk placed at the far end of his room afront the window doing paperwork. He'd already sent the brats to do their respective cleaning duty's as the afternoon came and went. He sipped slowly at his fresh tea that Eren had brought him, the boy having finished his own jobs quickly.

For a while now the kid had made a habit of sitting on the couch in Levi's small chambers, much like he had back at the castle when the captain would be working in his office. Levi thought perhaps he liked quiet company, despite how that seemed to contradict the boy's personality. Alas the kid was quiet, never distracting him and was generally well behaved while in the officer's presence so the captain didn't see the use of kicking him to the curb. Or perhaps he didn't have the heart to throw the brat out.

Either way the captain's own eyes were trained on Eren, wondering if the kid would have an answer as to why Jean Kirstein seemed to study the elder soldier at every turn. He had also made a note that Kirstein and Eren had seemed to be even more hostile towards each other than usual. There was a shift in their usual bickering, brawls taking place with a much fiercer competitiveness.

He wasn't blind, Eren instigated many of their fights, never knowing when to choose his battles. That said Jean was the one escalating his words, their arguments. Even yesterday, the young two-toned cadet had even brought Arlert into the mix. Asking obscure and out of place questions of the reasoning behind Eren and Armin's friendship.

"Why are you even friends with this suicidal maniac Armin!? Can't be much of a buddy if all he ever does is throw himself and everyone else into danger like a fucking monster!" Levi had kicked the both of them in the stomach mid brawl after that and sent the entire squad to bed for the night.

Levi knew his old squads' death still sat heavy on the titan-shifters shoulders, Eren had engrained that guilt into his soul as if he had any right to carry so much burden. On top of the salt added to Eren's wound, Jean had used that dreadful fucking word Levi hated.

Monster.

The kid wasn't a god damn monster, no matter what the MP's called him, no matter what the common rabble said. Eren was just a goddamn teenager trying to carry the world.

For a while Levi sat in thought, musing on both this and simultaneously avoiding paperwork which had become a headache as his thoughts tried to fight the strong bangs and clashes of wind against the shining window.

Finally, he decided to address the kid.

"Eren." The titan-shifter straightened from his slouch, where he had been flicking through one of Erwin's smaller novels he had found lying about, feigning interest in it and pretending to read.

"Yes captain?"

"Does Kirstein have an issue at the moment that you know of? He has been freakishly eyeing me and it's putting me off. Any shitty ideas?" Asked Levi.

Eren's only muffled the laughter that had fallen from his throat.

"Spit it out Jaeger." Rarely now did he use Eren's last name in such a casual setting, the boy cleared his throat and will all the seriousness of a teenage boy of 15 told the captain what he knew to be the truest form of Jean's personality.

"Horse-face likes black hair."

Jean was in love.

He mused on this as he cleaned the stables, making sure to be careful around his own stallion whom tended to be jumpy when his stall was breached. He then moved on to the next stall, cleaning it meticulously and being sure to give Captain Levi's huge black stead a second brush. Magnolia, he remembered was the mare's name.

He knew he was deeply and passionately in love from the moment Captain Levi had saved him from colliding with a tree. He was beautiful and handsome, and he had very lovely raven hair.

Ever since that day Jean found himself struggling to tear his bronzed eyes from the Captain, always finding some reason to watch him and observe the way he moved and spoke.

His aloof nature wasn't a turn off either, Jean found that everything Captain Levi now said had meaning and his words resinated deeper within the young cadet. Jean saw Captain Levi in a new light, even the way Levi trained his new squad seemed fascinating and captivating. Every time the superior would address Jean directly butterflies would build in his stomach.

Earlier they had engaged in one on one training as the captain had allocated at least one hour of independent coaching to each squad member per week. Today happened to be Jean's day. Furthermore, he had felt giddy all morning at such a prospect even with the fight with Jaeger the evening before weighing heavily on his mind.

Throughout the training session he attempted to keep eyes contact with Captain Levi's gunmetal gaze the entire time, watching how they flickered when sun reflected on the crystals. He studied when the corporal's eyes would fall dark as he strained his leg and how the muscles in his jaw would clench at the ache.

Of course, even while he was still recovering Jean was no match for the short statured man, falling on his ass an embarrassing amount of times and even took an unfortunate tumble to the ground.

While the captain scolded him on how he had manoeuvred wrong he never discouraged him from trying again and again until his goal was achieved. The captain expected and valued persistence.

Yet another thing to love about the hardy man.

Though he knew ever mentioning the way he felt would likely have repercussions, it was probable he'd be beaten into a blood pulp, but an inkling of hope was always sitting in the back of his mind that maybe he would have a chance.

The- the captain liked tall people, right? Section Commander Hange had mentioned that hadn't she? And he was tall, for a fifteen-year-old Jean was quite tall. He was well built too, even more so than many other cadets his age and older.

Still… Jean knew he wasn't Eren. Eren who was a Titan and could save thousands, Eren, who Mikasa favoured over him even on that first day. Eren who was humanity's hope. Eren who didn't share the facial characteristics of the animal's he was attending to.

Eren whom was Captain Levi's favourite, who finished his duty's quickest and was allowed to lounge about in the captain's room as he pleased.

Eren. Who was addressed as such by the shorter man, while the rest of them only got their last names barked out by the officer.

"Fucking Eren." Huffed the boy, giving Magnolia a pat on the nose; she returned this with an arguing neigh of her own, objecting to his aggression towards the titan-shifter.

Even Captain's horse likes him better.

"Kirstein!" Jean halted at the strong voice that pierced through the chill wind like a blade. Jean swivelled from Magnolia, instinctively clamping his fists together and bounding one against his chest and the other against his back. Captain Levi stood before him in all 5'6 of his glory. His hair was slightly dishevelled as if todays stronger breeze had attacked him.

Jean watched each breath drop and fall from the man's chest intently. With a soft huff Captain Levi situated himself against a post on the left of Magnolia's stall, opposite to the cadet. After giving his steed a soft pat on the nose the captain folded his arms afront his chest a reinitiated eye contact between the two.

"You need to stop this."

"I-I'm almost finished, I can-" Captain Levi held up his hand. Jean was perplexed, his dark eyebrows narrowing.

"This, whatever this little crush is it ends now." Addressed the captain and Jean could feel his face burning from his head to his toes with heated ears and a cherry red flush.

"I-"

Levi kept his tone even but firm as he interrupted.

"It's inappropriate and you're becoming less productive in training. You have better things to focus on. Not only that whatever aggression you have with Eren needs to stop, last night was a shitstorm." Jean new this, he'd caught Eren wondering about last night but couldn't bring himself to care.

Eren was arrogant and fucking perfect and of course this was about Eren.

"So this is about Eren?" Second best again, really.

"What the fuck are you talking about?"

"S-Sorry Sir, I just, I know-" Jean thought he should stop himself now but… but they were here now and perhaps if he could just explain himself maybe- "I know you're my superior but I just thought… Well I think you're a really cool guy and…"

Captain Levi just look at him in concentration, apparently choosing to allow him to finish.

Stop. Jean thought to himself. Stop before you say something stupid.

"… and I think your really fucking beautiful." Oh god. "HANDSOME! I mean handsome! And I don't know, you're strong and sort of kind. I mean you're grumpy too, but I just thought that maybe… I don't know and I know that Eren's probably way fucking better than me but I just…" Jean was blushing fifty shades of red and perhaps a bit green from the strong butterflies.

Levi didn't know what to think about the boy's speech, he'd wanted to let him finish at least. It wasn't everyday he got a confession from a young cadet, even less so from a man. Of course, he didn't care about that; but romance was something he never got the hang of.

He thought of Erwin, whom perhaps he could harbor a romantic kind of love for but he was so uncertain of himself most of the time that he knew their relationship would be built on dependency. Because Erwin made the decisions he couldn't, and Levi didn't think that would be a wonderful way to start a relationship.

He recalled Petra's pretty smiles, always ready to please but never one to take without permission. He remembered not being able to return those feelings. Now he never glimpsed those bright grins.

And that was almost the biggest problem, that he could lose those moments with another in a matter of seconds. Levi didn't think his heart handle that kind of loss.

"I can't reciprocate your feelings. It's best you do not get tangled up in them." Levi finally decided, his words looking like they just shot a bullet through Kirstein's guts.

"Is it because I'm a guy? Or is it Eren."

What was this kid taking about? Sure, perhaps he was closer with Eren than the rest of the ragtag bunch, but he had known the boy for longer. They had shared a loss with one another and now the soldier thought about it, down in his core Levi believed that above all else: Eren just needed someone to make him feel safe.

From the wretched fucking world that wanted to hurt him and beat him down, tell him he was a beast. A monster.

And from himself. Because while Levi trusted him not to go rogue, Eren didn't trust himself.

"This hasn't got to do with the fact that you're a male- "

"So it is Eren?"

And it clicked. Jean felt inferior. 

"It's not Eren either, you're both just as shit as each other so don't flatter him or yourself." Jean made a face Levi couldn't decipher. Shit, apparently, they weren't the right words. "Look, you're a capable soldier and being involved with your captain isn't appropriate. And how much older I am than you isn't alright either, I'm not going to take advantage of you as your superior nor as an adult. Fuck, I know you've all experienced your fair shitload of trauma, but whether you all think so or not you're just a bunch of kids."

Levi finished his rant and noticed the sun had set during their conversation, between the wind, the cold and the red flushes Jean looked like a fucking mess.

"I- I understand." Jean said dejectedly. Levi felt like shit inside. He made a move to leave but decided perhaps just for the moment, he could be a little kinder than usual. Shit, this was twice since they'd gotten to this cabin.

Hesitantly, Levi reached up to the frozen in place two-toned kid and ruffled his hair.

"Don't let my preferences undervalue your worth. You're a strong leader, a good fucking soldier and a pretty good kid. Just choose someone closer to your age next time yeah?"

Levi left Jean there after that and while the boy thought it'd take him a while to get over his feelings he understood.

And if anything, thought Levi was a really good guy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I found this was a bit of a mix between Jean and Eren's focus. A chapter centered around Eren is probably going to be the last or second last one so I'm sneaking him in others. Next is a lot more cuddly so I hope your all looking forward to soft Levi.


	4. Moments To Smile

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I'm alive and you're all amazing! Thanks for all of the love on my last chapter... from a whole 4 months ago. Any-who be prepared for just so much fluff!!

It had been a restless few day for the cadets, they were falling into misbehavior that exceeded stir crazy and Levi was just about ready to pummel the lot of them. It seemed the more time he spent with the lot the comfier they got. He’d considered a beating, with the underlining hope that it would restore the fear they’d so quickly lost but Erwin had suggested (demanded) he refrain from battering the teenagers during their training.

“All I’m saying is that you’re a coward, you weren’t willing to eat it then and you’re not going to now.” Sasha quipped with a dramatic shrug. Jean’s glare held strong.

“Because I’m not a goddamn pig you freak!” He didn’t know what they were talking about, just that they were ruining the sanctity of breakfast. They bickered some more, even the light-hearted Armin inserting themselves into the tiff. Normally Mikasa and Armin were quiet when breakfast came around, content in enjoying the quietness of their own minds, but today not even those two were keeping their lips sealed.

The captain was staring into his bowl of porridge thinking about how shit Jean was at making breakfast when Eren had piped up.

“It’s gross, you’re gross.” Eren deadpanned, his wild chocolate bedhead sticking up every way imaginable. Historia nodded softly in agreement.

“But she’s right! How about it Captain? Sasha’s right yeah?” _Ugh, Springer’s voice is so pitchy in the morning._ “Captain?”

“What?” He snipped lowly, meeting the boy’s olive eyes with his own narrow ones. He’d gotten only a scrap of sleep the night before; between the insomnia that followed him at sunset and having to visit his team’s rooms to shut them up, as if he were monitoring a goddamn sleepover and not training soldiers for battling giant fucking beasts, he had not rested enough to deal with these brats.

“Is it fucked up to eat frogs?” _What? Oh, for the sake of the fucking walls this is what they’re bickering about at six thirty in the morning?!_

He’d almost forgotten that feeling – being hungry enough to eat grotesque beings. It was more foreign then not, even when he had nothing to eat as a small child the actual feeling of hunger dissipated after a while. He’d asked Hange about it once, why it was that after a time he‘d stopped craving food when he was a kid. She’d only looked sullen, explaining that when you’re no longer whimpering for food that’s when you know you’re dying.

“You’ll eat anything if you’re hungry enough.”

The room erupted into argument as if the death rate of frogs via human consumption was worth the commotion. Levi wanted to throw his head down, it’s throbbing having suddenly hit him like a rock. For a few more moments he let them continue, all 7 of his cadets yelling obscenities across the room.

Finally, his sleep deprived brain decided enough was fucking enough.

“If you brats shut the fuck up, we can go to town today. _But_ only if you eat your breakfast on the deck and leave me in goddamn peace for half an hour!” The silence that followed this holy-ass sentence was blissful, Levi could bathe in the goddamn quiet as his brats made their way outside with their bowls in hands.

_Wait? MY what-now?_

* * *

It took only a half hour to get on the road, which was followed by the same length of time trotting to town on horseback.

As he dismounted Levi gave Magnolia a rough pat under the chin. She generally didn’t enjoy company, but it seemed most of these brats had gotten caught in his mare’s affections. Magnolia was especially taken with soft-spoken Historia who was quiet and careful when regarding his testy steed.

Hange couldn’t get close to the black beauty with a pole between them and she always huffed in discontent when Erwin showed up in the stables at headquarters.

“Alright you snots,” He addressed harshly, “you’ve got two hours to do what you like while I get supplies with Blouse.” A deep sigh erupted from the girl, earning her a silencing glare. He thought she had earnt pack mule duty for always being the reason they were short of food. “Buy and do whatever the fuck you want with your own money but don’t cause shit and don’t go off alone.”

The group of soldiers gave their respective solutes and split up, Levi watched them for a moment and a brief tiny _very_ deniable paternal part of him insisted on scolding Eren and Connie for not wearing decent clothes for the chilling weather, Blouse wasn’t doing much better, rubbing her slim hands together and warming them with her breath as they began to proceed towards the bustling market.

He wanted to get gear for the coming storms and snow. Some merchants would be closing up for the winter soon, generally the richer traders who resided further away from skirts of Wall Rose. While the brokers who had immigrated from Maria in the breach would have no choice but to keep selling their worn wears.

Blouse followed behind him while chatting away. They’d all definitely gotten comfortable around him, showing their personalities bright and bold when they stopped thinking his aloof nature would send them to early graves. Even his old squad, whom he’d handpicked for their abilities, hadn’t been so relaxed with him so soon.

The truth was, he didn’t mind them much either. While they had become a tad rambunctious from being couped up with each other generally he… well... enjoyed their presence? He didn’t know the words for it really.

And that irritated him.

He found Eren and Mikasa’s determination to protect Armin and each other admirable. He found Eren’s habit of clinging to him like a toddler clung to their mother unexpected and while it was unusual and even a little intimidating, he didn’t find it bothered him. Being needed hit him like a titan. He wasn’t used to being someone others relied on for anything but survival. He wasn’t used to being used as a source of comfort.

He also found that Armin, the boy he was sure could flawlessly execute them all with his mind and get away with it, presented as a true challenge to train. But he never gave up and Levi couldn’t help but to care for his outcome. Levi _wanted_ Armin to succeed as a strong soldier.

Historia, the soft-spoken fucking angel that she was, while she had stepped up to her knew name and revealed who she was, was still so goddamn sweet he couldn’t stand it. Normally a girl with her gentle nature wouldn’t catch his intrigue.

But all that seemed to plague his mind as he thought of her was the night he’d finally succumbed to resting his eyes in the living area they were forced to share and she’d shushed the rest of the rabble, insisting they all head to bed for the night. He hadn’t thought to open his eyes, he was relaxed, another shocking twist of fate, and didn’t feel like moving quite yet. He also hadn’t thought she’d return, while he sat with an ankle resting on his knee and his hand cradling his face, to throw a blanket over his person and scoot away before she thought he’d wake up.

Even this idiot girl who couldn’t stave off her appetite was intriguing in her own way. Her abilities with a bow was refreshing and her carefree perky attitude wasn’t entirely unpleasant.

Fuck, Erwin was right in choosing them for his team. Fucking Erwin and his big dumb blonde brain that knew the only way Levi could really put his heart and soul into a team was to make him _care._

“Asshole.” Levi whispered to himself. Blouse, who had been softly humming next to him while they passed through the markets bustling entrance went doe eyed and cocked her head softly to the side.

“Did I do something wrong sir?” Levi shook his head, peering at her warm chocolate eyes.

“I’m not talking about you Blouse.” Sasha wasn’t looking at her surroundings now, choosing to give him her full and undivided attention.

“Then what’s the matter Cap-” He interrupted her question to grip her forearm and pulled her closer away from a coughing gentleman who was moments from spluttering his bacteria all over her face.

“Watch where you’re going.” He scolded, having pulled her closer to his right. Finally, he let go of her forearm, settling his eyes on his surrounds, the grey eyes he harboured scoured for threats. It was a gloomy day; the tips of his ears were frozen, and Levi was sure he could simply snap his nose from his face like ice.

And then he noticed it; coughs were stifled through crowds and young babes’ snug against their mothers were buried deep in cloths and rags.

“What’s going on around here?” Whispered the teenager next to him.

“A winter flu likely, I’ll ask the next vender we stop at. Cover your mouth with that scarf of yours.” He too burrowed closely into his winter coat, keeping an eye on the cadets he saw stopping to spend their share of wages.

 _“It’s hit hard for so early in the year, Rose fever it is. I can guarantee the produce was washed but give ‘em a scrubbing anyway to be safe sir, ‘specially if yah crews full of youngsters like this lass, hits kids the hardest they say.”_ Levi paid for the goods and handed them to Blouse, less then relieved by what he had heard. He’d added a few extra coins in his payment and the merchant with greying hair and an aging face threw the pair a toothy smile.

Rose Fever had been meticulous in the underground every cold season, but you could only get it once.

He remembered suffering it not too soon after Kenny had disappeared, crying in stress and pain alone in that empty lifeless house. But he had at least had a house, which was better than most of the other kids his age had in that hell. The solider also recalled Isobel suffering the affliction, he hadn’t been convinced she would live.

He recalled holding her close in those few harsh days and he never could quite forget the way the headstrong girl had tried to hold in her whimpers but had eventually succumbed to sobs and cries of pain.

He hadn’t ever forgotten Furlan’s dull eyes that night as the three drowned in the bedsheets, they were full of anxiety and terror, he was sure he looked similar. Because that was the day they thought they would lose a member of their fucked up little family.

“Have you ever had Rose Fever?” Asked Levi, looking at the young girl who shook her head.

“Never even heard of it Captain, you think it’s bad?” Levi stopped at another vender, one who looked polished and clean which was the best he could ask for during these cold months. In the next moment Sasha was thrown a pair of thick leather gloves by the captain.

“It can be, for little brats like you.” He said simply, he insisted on having her put the gloves on and hoped he could find the rest of his brats quickly. They collected a few more supplies hastily before he sent Sasha back to the stable. “Go back to the horses, I can’t afford to have a sick team, we’ve got too much training before the cold really hits.”

When it did come, he would limit the training and focus on strategy and battle tactic with the brats, their physical exercise would grow smaller and they’d learn the ins and outs of their gear. He’d teach them how best to avoid accidents like what happened with Jean and further solicit the knowledge they all had of each other.

They needed to trust one and other to function, they needed to trust him too.

Which was a terrifying thought.

Levi discovered Historia with Armin after he’d finally found a seamstress that could supply him with blankets. He passed some of the bundles to the two and had them follow him back to the horses. Historia looked a little surprised.

“Why the coverings sir? We have plenty.”

“There’s a flu going around and it’s been colder in this area then it was at the beginning of last winter. We’re all going to freeze in that shitty house without them.” He answered Historia, his tone carrying more bite than intended. He looked to Arlert, who seemed to have a similar idea, having spent his earnings on a coat and a few scarves, Levi assumed one was for him and the others for Mikasa and Eren.

“Right, we’re leaving.” He announced, finding Sasha had rounded up the rest of their gang.

“Why are we leaving so soon Captain? You said we could spend a couple of hours here.”

“Because you’ll all catch your fucking death with your lack of awareness. _We’re leaving now_.” Levi snapped at Eren, perhaps he was worried. More worried than he wanted to admit, if any of them ended up with a fever he would swear to the walls they could shove it and take care of themselves. What did he care if they died anyway right? Fucking kids.

* * *

The following afternoon Levi had the 104th go through flight training, pushing them to their limits so he could actually get a decent night’s sleep.

“Pick up the pace, Blouse!” He harshly ordered, refusing to pull her off the field. If he did that, he’d have to admit she was slower today than yesterday.

“Sorry Captain.”

“Don’t be sorry just move!” He saw her wince at the boom in his voice, maybe he was being a little harsh. At first he was relieved to hear the illness was one he couldn’t get but then his stupid heart reminded him he wasn’t just looking out for himself. Sasha continued to lag behind throughout the training exercise, finally he chose to dismiss her.

From his vantage point on a thick branch of one of the taller trees, he watched his squad train back and forth, viewing how they adjusted their angles and positions in the group based on his liking. “Blouse. Over here now.”

She whipped around in mid-flight and drew herself closer.

“I know I’m slower today.” She addressed, looking as if she were deciding whether to apologise or not after the last scolding.

“Just sit down.” He commanded in weary, gesturing to the free space beside his upright form. Without question she sat herself down and lifted her head against the trunk. They sat like that for fifteen minutes longer, as he yelled instructions to the rest of his squad.

When he brought his grey eyes back to Sasha her face was flushed and he remembered just how quickly Rose Fever could spread and how quick it could start showing face.

So he dropped the pretence, this not caring act was getting him nowhere, fuck it had been a few hours of training now and he had to acknowledged he’d done a bad job as her captain. He should have stopped her the moment she’d fallen behind Arlert.

He did something, then, that he hadn’t done since Isobel had been alive.

Softly, without warning, he placed his muscular hand to her forehead, pushing her bangs from her face. Beneath it he felt a light simmer – a sign of a coming fever.

“That- that feels nice Captain. Colder.” She said after a collecting herself, his touch unexpected.

“That’s because you’re getting a fever.” Levi murmured, his voice deep and she thought it may even have sounded distraught.

“I know.”

Levi only replied with a hum, handing her a canteen to sip from. Soon he ordered Kirstein to continue to run drills. He noticed Connie making his way forward just as Levi had slipped a hand beneath Blouse’s knee and the other to her back. “I-I think I can walk Captain.”

“Shut up.”

“Captain! Sasha you alright?” The boy asked frantically as his soles hit the branch. Levi took a careful step back, the tired bundle in his arms had decided it was her god given right to use his shoulder as a head rest, displaying the weakness she was obviously feeling.

“Nope, I’ve got one sick kid, don’t need two. Stay here and train Springer.” The superior moved to head back to the house and separate the girl from the others.

“But Captain-”

“That’s an order, Connie.” Repeated Levi, unaware it was the first time he’d addressed the teenager by his first name. The boy grew disheartened as he swung from the tree to the grassy plains beneath.

* * *

“I didn’t even touch anyone.” Whispered Sasha. “I don’t understand.” It had been about an hour since he’d taken her inside and left her on her bunk to get changed and slip under the covers. If he was anyone else perhaps, he would have allowed her his room to rest, the bed was much softer and so were the blankets. Being that he wasn’t a monster he allowed her at least a few of the new blankets, letting her saver the warmth while her fever was still low. If it spiked any higher, he would disregard her complaints of chills immediately and throw her in a lake or something.

“Just shut up and sleep. Sleep helps.” Levi ordered, having come to check on her. He had found her layered in both her own and Historia’s bedding. Now he sat on the edge of her bed, feeling like a worried sick parent, which also didn’t bode well with him.

“You know what Captain?” Mumbled the young girl, her voice seeming to hold a teasing tone to it.

“Tch, what?”

“I think—I think you’re a really nice guy.” Sasha declared, fixating her eyes on the brave soldier. _Humanity’s strongest,_ she thought. “Haha, humanity’s softest.” She giggled quietly to herself. _She’s clearly fallen into fever-driven delusions_ , Levi concluded with a scoff. “No… I mean it Captain; you’re worried. I haven’t had anyone worried about me in a long time.” She said in the quietest voice, as if she hoped he wouldn’t hear.

Levi looked away, hating the feeling churning in his cut, the anxiety crawling up his chest.

“Tch, what bullshit, if he didn’t already have a shaved head Springer would go bald with stress over you. Don’t sell yourself short dumbass.”

Sasha didn’t reply, her eyes now closed. He deduced that she’d fallen into sleep and experimentally ran his finger through her filthy fucking sweaty bangs, he thought it was all shit. Doing this, feeling this way about a sick kid who might not get better. This girl didn’t play the role of little sister like Isobel and yet he hated that his gut roiled harsher than it had when the redhead was sick.

Levi decided, after fussing over the strands for a few more moments, to leave her be and make his way out of the small room.

“Humanity’s softest.” She said huskily to herself, voice groggy with drowsiness. He didn’t reply, heading out of the room.

* * *

The next time he visited was just after dinner, keeping the others away and productive had been a challenge. They were all too persistent to see their friend, of course none of them had had Rose Fever before. It had apparently never spread so far from the Underground before the last few years.

So he threatened them with independent cleaning duties for the next month and a hasty beating if any of them breached the room.

With soup warm in his hands after hearing the wrenching coughs that had begun to ring, he headed up the wooden stairs and decided it was best to knock. Levi thought it best to keep some formalities between himself and his cadets.

A whimper erupted from the room, Levi’s steps haltered, unsure if he was prepared to deal with a crying brat. He was out of his depth and yet he wanted to furiously to make her pain dissipate. He pushed open the door, preparing himself for what he was about to face.

Sasha was lying on her back with her eyes hidden in the crook of her elbow and sweat seemed to glisten along her forehead.

“You look like shit.” Levi announced, his ungraceful words filling the dark space between them. The young girl turned to face him, coughing a laugh.

“I feel like shit.”

“Sit up and eat.” Ordered the captain, striding across the room and holding out the bowl. Sasha, with all the stubbornness of a fifteen-year-old girl, turned her head way from him with a murmur.

“I’m not hungry.” The whisper had his eyebrows raised, alarm shooting through him. Sasha Blouse, the girl who he was sure would eat an actual horse if the opportunity presented itself, was not hungry…

“You’re going to eat whether you’re hungry or not, otherwise it’ll be your own damn fault when you die.” Okay, maybe not the most tactful way of establishing his dominance as captain. She faced him again, tears glistening in her golden eyes.

“Am I going to die?” She mumbled, sounding so… pathetic. Levi let out a deep sigh, she had joined the Survey Corps, of course she was going to die. Be it now or in twenty years, unless they found a way to end this all, her death was inevitable. It was everything but written in the fucking stars. Still, he sat on the corner of her bed, watching as she tugged Historia’s blanket’s tight around herself, and told her the biggest lie of all. 

“No, you shitty brat, you’re going to live so just eat your soup and do as your told.”

Still, she seemed hesitant but finally sat up and took the warm bowl from his hand, sloshing around the soup slowly like the thought of ingesting it was the most disgusting idea in the world. Acting like she wasn’t vouching for the culling of frogs to fry up the previous morning.

“Just a little, I’ve had Rose Fever and I know it takes away your appetite, still, you’ve got to stomach it.” And she did, eating at least half the bowl before she rested her heavy head on his lap like they were long-time friends or something absurd like that. 

The sun had gone down some time ago, only the moon and stars that peered through the window giving the room any light.

“Did you have anyone to take care of you when you got sick?” Sasha weakly asked, her voice small and drenched in weariness.

He hadn’t, but that wasn’t something he liked to think about. The days spent in Kenny’s empty house, void of any sound other than the coughing and retching that would erupt from his throat in spouts. He remembered wishing to whoever those idiot wall priests believed in that the older man would just come back. Because he could hold a knife perfectly, make someone’s face unrecognisable with his fists. But that didn’t mean he didn’t need someone to take care of him when he was sick.

“No.” Levi admitted. “Not when I was a brat like you.”

Sasha twisted her head to face him, stirring in his lap with her big brown eyes fixed on his blue ones. Somehow, she’d managed to curl up against him like a common housecat.

“Sounds lonely.”

“It was, at the time.” He agreed, leaning against the wooden beam of her bunk. She looked saddened, he figured he could do his best to cheer her up a little. His past haunted him at night but it didn’t need to disturb her. “But you know… the next time I was sick, Hange was there and by the walls the crazy bitch wouldn’t give me a moment of peace. I only had the common cold, nothing deadly.” Shared Levi, placing his palm against her forehead, it was still burning however her temperature hadn’t seemed to rise throughout the afternoon.

“Commander Hange’s really nice though. Eren said that even when she goes too far with her experiments, when she calms down, she reminds him of his mother.” Levi couldn’t disagree with that; he’d seen firsthand what her fretting was like. The rooms sound seemed to quell, the girl slipping in and out of consciousness. “You’re like that too, Captain, you know…”

Levi didn’t think he was like Hange, he hadn’t ever fussed like she could.

“You act all tough and brooding…” Sasha explained, “but you always tell us when we’re doing a good job and never really get angry when we fuck up. It’s always just” her voice seemed to deepen as she mocked him “ _clean it up, don’t make more of a mess, shitty brats_.” She dragged the ‘s’ with a giggle, her words slurring a little. “You’re very much like a dad you know? ‘Specially with Eren… and… you even bought me gloves and made me soup.”

“I didn’t make the s-“

“Shhhhh, I’m talking.”

Levi’s mouth gaped, the nerve of this fucking girl. Despite her words the girl seemed to finally fall asleep before she could continue, leaving Levi in the silence of the room. He leant his head against the bunk, cradling her head in his strong hands ever so softly.

“I don’t know what I’m doing,” he whispered to her – because she wouldn’t remember this in the morning. “I guess I could try to do the whole parent thing. ‘Cause that’s what you stupid teenagers need right? Erwin and I, we take you kids away from your promising lives and tell you sweet words about freedom.” _There is no freedom._ “Least I could do is watch out for you until you realise the world is not sweet.” _Until you realise you’re just fertiliser waiting to be put into the ground._

Sasha didn’t move, just kept at her heavy breathing with an exhausted look about her.

* * *

The hours past slowly, the next two days of solitary with the girl a living nightmare as she slipped in and out of fretful dreams, always seeming to circle back onto the topic of death as she agonised about the thought of being taken from the world.

“I wonder whether there are other lives where we don’t have to fight monsters,” Sasha rambles “where rooms are always warm and there is always food.”

“I doubt it would be any more peaceful than this one.” Levi was exhausted, having stayed by the girl’s side for two days now without much change, between washing out buckets of bile and waiting with her with a cold towel on her head he hadn’t gotten much sleep. She was awkwardly in his arms now; she’d woken up like that after he’d pulled her from a delusion.

“This world isn’t so bad you know? The titans are scary but…” Sasha’s voice turned to a whisper “there are people in this world that make us smile and I think that makes it all worth it.” Levi swore he’d never met someone so wise when driven by a fever. “You smile sometimes captain.”

Levi almost laughed, choosing to give her a scoff instead.

“I’ve seen it, when Connie manages to come up with some really stupid idea that you’ll never agree to but secretly think sounds really fun… And- and when Eren and Jean argue over dumb shit or when Historia laughs… You smile all the time…” Sasha said with a ridiculous amount of fervor for a sick girl. “Don’t those moments make you want to live?”

Levi considered this for a moment, all the admirable qualities he saw in this squad as well as the more obscure ones. How, while it was a giant pain in his ass, the group would bundle up in the boys’ bedroom late at night to talk about their time as trainee’s. He thought that those moments where the trauma dissipated from them for just a few moments made this life seem like it was worth the suffering.

He even thought back to his own kind of trio, where Hange or he would have a particularly haunting nightmare, because adulthood didn’t deter demon’s, and they’d rendezvous in Erwin’s large quarters before the sun came up to give themselves some illusion of comfort. He remembers smiling with Furlan that first night they’d managed to steal a crate of liquor from the vendors and how the older boy had gotten blind drunk while he stayed sober as ever.

They were moments Levi refused to see as villainous and cruel.

So perhaps Sasha had a point.

“I think you should just get better so you’ll stop acting like a preaching wallist.” Sasha giggled and maybe Levi didn’t curb his smile at the small beautiful sound.

* * *

The morning passed and Sasha’s fever finally broke, Levi would even pray to the goddamn walls if it meant he’d never have to face this kind of stress again. Unfortunately though, with the news that the girl would be alright the captain had struggled to keep her teammates from the room. Because he’d throw himself into a titan’s mouth if he not only had to deal with more vomit but more heartfelt conversations. His chest needed a break and now that weight of Sasha’s possible death was lifted, he could mull in peace.

Now, despite his firm belief that the brats might act with some sense of decorum a few days later, when Sasha was released from the confounds of her room after Levi had scrubbed every surface of the filthy room, that the cadets would have some respect for the recently recovered. He found this to be entirely not the case.

They were rowdy at dinner, practically jumping up the goddamn walls as they tried to contain whatever surprise they’d cooked up while she was gone.

Dinner that night, despite the noise, made him happy in a way he hoped was never questioned because he just… couldn’t describe it. Mikasa, the stoic little bastard, stacked most of her own food on Sasha’s plate. The girl, with her newly regained appetite, was ecstatic. Armin claimed dish duty for a second night because he couldn’t bare to make her do it. Connie had followed her around all day, like he was absolutely begging her to _please please give me you’re shitty fucking cold._ And Historia, the angel, had cooked the best fucking meal he had ever seen a cadet cook. 

“We have dessert!” Jean announced and the idiots all looked ready to burst from laughter. Sasha cocked an eyebrow in confusion.

“Really?!” And in the blink of an eye Levi had to make a solemn promise to Maria that he would never trust these idiots with his food ever again. Because Jean had presented Blouse with a plate of frog legs. What was worse was how stupidly freaking happy the brat looked.

“You caught a frog?”

“Just for you!” Eren laughed and everybody else followed.

Through the mirth, Levi wondered, for an inkling of a moment, if maybe this was what his new family was supposed to sound like.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gahh I loved writing this chapter it was so much fun! Thanks to everyone who read it and I hope you had as much fun reading as I did writing!!

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This is just something I'm writing for fun cause I'm a sucker for parental Levi, if you have any requests or suggestions for Levi/the 104th cadets please let me know! :)


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